Things Are Looking Up

Today I'm feeling a little better after the meltdown I had yesterday. I was so darn irritated at myself for being so wasteful. This morning was a new day and I jumped right into the plans I had! You see, yesterday I observed that the bananas were over ripe. The same bananas that my oldest tells me she'll eat if I'll just buy them. In her defense, she is usually the only one who will faithfully eat them but occasionally she "forgets" about them. Anyway, I noticed that they were about to be gross so I decided I'd find a way to use them before that happened. There's nothing like the smell of gross old bananas in the trash can!

I looked online and found a recipe for banana-oatmeal bread. I thought I'd give it a try since I LOVE oatmeal and Logan likes bananas. Of course I cheated and tasted the batter before baking it. It's just something I do. I can't help myself. I can usually tell whether I'll like what I'm making from the taste of the batter. It smelled pretty yummy while it was baking and it tasted really wonderful! You have to like bananas to like it so if you like them, I'd encourage you to try making this. I was impressed and happy that I found a good recipe to stick in my collection.

I'm feeling better about the issue of our waste. All it takes is a little attention to detail and we can stop doing what we do. The day looked brighter as we munched on that yummy bread! Then, I got an email from Paulette over at Capturing Today informing me that I'd won one of her baking accessories goodie bags! I must have visited 300 blogs during the carnival hosted by Shannon. I am feeling a little tired of my computer right now but I'm sure that'll pass soon enough! After all, I did win a prize! Thanks to Shannon for hosting this cool event and to Paulette for the wonderful gift I'll be receiving! If you haven't visited these ladies, please do so. You will not be sorry.

My day/night couldn't get any better, right? Wrong! To top off my already wonderful day, the hubster took me to my favorite Japanese place, Moto. Mmmmmm! It was so yummy and I had leftovers so you know what that means. Bonus! Lunch tomorrow! I can't wait to gobble it up! After Moto, the hubster took me to Books-A-Million and bought me a book I've wanted for awhile but was too cheap to buy. I'll give you a hint. It's the diary of the owner of Pemberley. I'm tickled pink and can't wait to read it! I am afraid I'm gonna have to put down the book I'm currently reading and dive into this one! He also got me the new issue of Real Simple, which I love!

I'll leave you with a picture of the book I got and also the recipe for the banana-oatmeal bread.

Banana-Oatmeal Bread (from Mr Breakfast)

• 2 large ripe bananas, mashed
• 1 cup old-fashioned oats
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2 additional large egg whites
• 7 TBS veggie oil
• 1 TBS baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• cooking spray to coat pan

Preheat oven to 350. Combine brown sugar, veggie oil, and all eggs in a large bowl; beat well at medium speed with mixer. In a separate bowl, combine banana, oats, and milk; add this mixture to the sugar mixture, beating well. In another bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; stir with a whisk. Add this to sugar and oats mixture; beat until just moist. Spoon batter into a 9x5 inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350 for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

Have a great Saturday!

Mad At Myself

I'm not sure if I've mentioned it before today but we have an abundance of cucumbers from our garden. They have been our biggest producers so far and we are thrilled...except that there's only so many things you can do with a cucumber. I have the big kind, not the small ones for pickling. I didn't think about that before planting them and I certainly had no idea that three cucumber plants would produce so much! I certainly don't want to waste them and I have found a few recipes for dip or gyro sauce. However, I fear that I have too many and will not be able to use them all before they start to get mushy. As I sat around thinking about that today, something else struck me. Am I being a good steward of God's gifts? Am I thinking things through before doing them? Or, am I doing things without considering the consequences?

Obviously, this can apply to several areas in ones life. The thing I've been thinking about today is our waste. Generally speaking, we are not terrible when it comes to this but we do waste things. The biggest thing right now is food. As I looked at those cucumbers today, I was thinking that I'd have to throw out three or four of them if we don't eat them tonight. Then I considered that we are eating Mexican food tonight and that doesn't really go with a regular salad. The point is, those cucumbers will sit in the refrigerator for another day at least. Untouched....getting mushier by the minute. It bothers me that I'm letting that happen.

This morning I decided I'd clean out the refrigerator and get rid of the things that had been in there for a week. Let's see, I think I threw out some leftover mashed potatoes, some sauteed onions and green peppers, some pasta and sauce, some freezer burned veggies (because I failed to cook them soon enough), and some freezer burned sherbet. I'm irritated at this. It's totally unacceptable. As I threw out those things, I thought about this post I read over at AfricanKeli's recently. She talked about her recent trip to Africa and a lady she met in a village there with a malnourished daughter. All Keli had with her was a protein bar and she gave it to the child to eat. When I think about that child dying a little more every day because she doesn't have any food, it makes me really dislike myself for having wasted so much of it this week. So the answer to my question, am I being a good steward, is a big fat NO!

I don't know if any of you have this problem but I do and I refuse to let it continue. I know there are things that go on all over the world that I have no control over. I can't create world peace or feed all of the starving people in third world countries. However, I can live in peace and I can stop wasting. I can't make people believe the Gospel but I can still tell them about it. I can't make someone else be a better steward of God's gifts but I can be a better one. Are there other areas I need to work on? You bet ya! My second biggest failure is my time management. That warrants another whole post though!

How about you? Do you or did you have a problem with waste? Particularly food? If so, I'd love to hear about it and what you did to remedy the situation.

Have a great Thursday!

Almost Wordless Wednesday...again

Another almost Wordless Wednesday. I can't help myself with this one. It deserves a little attention. Let me introduce you to "The Brank", also know as the "Iron Bridle" or "Scold's Tongue". Ladies, if this type of device were still in use, I'd be in one most of the time.

In case you can't read the description of the device, it says that it was used to humiliate women who nagged (my specialty) , questioned authority (uh-huh) , or gossiped (check) . This is what I'd look like if it were still used today:

We saw this lovely device at the Pennsylvania Renaissance Fair when we were on vacation in Lancaster County, PA last year. If you're ever up that way, stop in for this. It was worth every penny and we could have spent a whole weekend there. My favorite part is always, always the food! At the fair, we ate some wonderful soup bowls. I had the chili soup bowl and it was out of this world. Mmmmmm, it may have been the highlight of our trip!

Happy WW! For more, go here.

Weekend Reflection # 24

Another week in our lives has come and gone. I always enjoy writing about my week since it helps me to recollect all of the things I have to be thankful for! This week is no exception.

Last Sunday we attended worship and afterwards visited my BIL in the hospital. He recently started dialysis, which has helped him feel much better. Last weekend he was admitted to the hospital due to some blood count levels being low. We sat with him on Sunday for a few hours to keep him from being so bored. He wasn't sick but the doctor wanted to be extra cautious and so decided to keep him in the hospital all weekend. I think he appreciated the company since there's nothing to do while you're in the hospital besides watch tv. He was released the next morning and is doing wonderfully!

Logan had been gone to my grandma's and then to my mom's since Friday. She returned on Monday evening and we were glad to have her back! She had fun in Virginia with my grandma for a couple of nights and then went to West Virginia to stay with my mom for a few nights. They had fun visiting with each other and just taking it easy.

On Wednesday evening, we invited Jeff's parents over for supper. I made meatloaf, mashed potatoes, soup beans, cornbread, and salad. My MIL brought her famous mac-n-cheese. I'm convinced that NO ONE in the world makes mac-n-cheese as good as this woman does. We had a wonderful meal together and an even better time relaxing and chatting. Since they've been so tied up with helping my BIL while he's been sick, we've not had alot of time to just spend with them and focus on them. We tried to do that with this meal and I think it worked. After supper we headed outside to build a fire in our new outdoor chimney that my mom brought to me last week. We ate strawberry delight for dessert and the kids roasted a few marshmallows. It was the most fun, relaxing night I'd had in a long time. The in-laws enjoyed themselves too because they called the next day to rave over the meatloaf I'd made! It really was a good recipe! Thanks Kraft Foods!

On Thursday the girls and I did our normal errand running and took Caroline to piano lessons. When we came home, our house felt like a sauna. It was bad. After a little investigating, I determined the heat pump was messed up. I called Jeff at work to let him know and we tried to figure out what to do. We couldn't get in touch with the regular repair guys so we did without air for the night.

Friday brought a new day and the first order of business was heat pump repair. I decided I'd flip it on to see what would happen before I called the repair guys. I was speechless when cold air started blowing and the fan on the heat pump was going like a charm! How's that for answered prayer! It's been working ever since! Not sure what the problem was and it still may break but for now we're chillin'! Friday night we took the kids to Books-A-Million for the midnight release of the last Harry Potter book. I had fun sniffing, I mean looking at all the books I wanted to buy! I even came home with one called The Same Sweet Girls. It was on the clearance table for $3 so my hubby was kind enough to get it for me! I wanted to buy Mr. Darcy's Diary but just couldn't bring myself to pay $14.95 for it, even though hubby offered to buy it for me! He's such a swell guy! Anyway, the girls had a blast waiting to get their copy of the book. BAM was packed and that made it all the more fun. I was amazed at the adults who are so crazy about HP. They were dressed up like characters from the book/movie so our eyes were busy looking at all that. I forgot to mention that before going to BAM, we took the kids to Chili's. We ordered chocolate molten cake for dessert and shared it. This is a big deal for me because I love me some chocolate molten cake. I like to have my own chocolate molten cake...all to myself. You get the picture. It was hard to share all of the warm, chocolaty goodness but I did it!

Saturday we were invited to have supper with our friends, the O's. We showed up at their house around 5:30 and were greeted by the wonderful smell of homemade Carolina pulled pork bbq. I love me some bbq! Mr. O had smoked it on his grill and I mean this stuff was the best bbq that anyone has ever served me! It was restaurant quality. We also enjoyed grilled corn, homemade salsa (yummy), baked beans, and caesar salad. Mrs. O served waffle cones filled with vanilla ice cream and topped with chopped up Snickers bars and Reese cups on top for dessert. This young wife sure knows the way to my heart...waffle cones and chocolate! This was one of the best meals I've ever had! After the meal, Jeff, Caroline, and myself enjoyed whipping up on Logan and the O's during our game of Pictionary. We had a blast and called it a night around 9:45. We came home and put the kiddos to bed and Jeff and I watched Pursuit of Happyness. We liked it pretty well although Jeff thought it wasn't much to write home about. It got a "just ok" from him. I liked it because it was based on a true story and I love to see someone triumph after such hardships.

A few things I'm thankful for this week are:

• a wonderful church family and pastors who teach me so much week after week
• a thoughtful husband who constantly does things that cause my love for him to grow more and more each day
• two beautiful daughters who are loving and obedient to their parents
• my friend Jenny, who constantly makes me laugh or inspires me (go visit her on the 28th and help her raise money during blogathon)
• answered prayer concerning our heat pump
• the abundance of cucumbers I'm pulling from our garden
• wonderful people I've met in the blogosphere
• the cool new outdoor fireplace thingy my mom gave us

I hope you've had a good week and that the coming one proves profitable. I'll leave you with a few photos:

A few garden crops:

Outdoor fireplace given to us by my wonderful mother:

Another one of my favorite man-kitty, Tumnus:

Have a great day!

There's Another One?

Anyone who has ever read this blog must know by now that I am a HUGE Jane Austen fan. Particularly, I am a HUGE Pride & Prejudice fan. I own three versions of the movie. I have watched all three of them multiple times. I just love it! Yes, I own the book, I've read it and I love it. I nearly laughed myself to death while reading it! Mrs. Bennett and her nerves! LOL!

I'm wondering how in the world I missed this version of the movie! It was released in 1940 and I've never seen it or even heard of it. I just happened across it today when I was doing some general Jane Austen research. Amazon even has it for sale! I'm not sure why I'm surprised since you can find almost anything on Amazon! So now I'm itching to see this version and maybe buy it in the future. I'm wondering if any of you have seen it. If so, I'd love to hear your comments about the movie. I'm also thinking I should check the library to see if they have a copy.

I still can't believe I didn't know about this version! Where have I been?!!!

100th Post

It's time for my 100th post so here is my 100 things list!

1. I was born in Pennington Gap, VA in December of 1973.
2. My parents were divorced when I was around 7 years old.
3. I have one sibling, Jason, who is almost three years younger than me. He is a VA state trooper and lives in Charlottesville. I rarely ever see or talk to him.
4. I have a step-sister, Courtney, who is about 20. She lives with my dad and I hardly ever see or talk to her.
5. Haven't talked to my dad since June of 2005 when he attended my grandfather's funeral.
6. I graduated from Appalachia High School in Appalachia, VA in 1991.
7. School was a social outlet for me and the only other interest I had was sports. I wasn't a terrible student. Just average.
8. I thought life really began when you graduated from high school so I couldn't wait to get out.
9. I went to college for 2 years but didn't go back because Jeff and I got married. College or married life? Huh, I got the better deal!
10. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life anyway!
11. We have two daughters.
12. We have a miniature schnauzer named Sadie.
13. We have 5 cats. Tabi, Tumnus, Molly, Lucy, and Jasper. We got Tabi from the animal shelter and all of the other cats were wild and came out of the woods behind our house. They're no longer "wild" since they know we have food! LOL!
14. We have two fish and they do absolutely nothing for me!
15. We had three other kittens but had to take them to the animal shelter last year. Long story but basically our house was overrun with cats and we had no choice. We can't save them all although for a little while we were trying to! I cried the whole way home from the shelter! It was one of the hardest things I've ever done.
16. I love animals (in case you couldn't tell). Especially kitties!
17. I can't understand why people do not spay or neuter their animals. If everyone was responsible and did that, we wouldn't have such a problem and precious animals wouldn't have to be killed each day.
18. I played basketball in high school (guard and forward).
19. I ran track (1600meter and 3200meter runs).
20. I ran cross-country. A standard course was 3.2 miles long, over mountains, hills, etc.
21. English was my favorite subject.
22. Spanish was my second favorite.
23. Everyone thought our gym teacher, Mrs. Berta, was like a drill sergeant. I loved her!
24. Coach Jervis was my basketball, track, and cross-country coach. He lived on the hill above me and really was like a father to me.
25. Caroline was born the day before my birthday. We're able to celebrate our birthdays together and that's just neat!
26. Logan and my MIL have birthdays on the same day. That's also neat!
27. Jeff is 4 years older than me.
28. One side of my family is Scottish and both sides of Jeff's family is.
29. I cry every time I watch Brave Heart. I don't watch it often because it hurts!
30. Pride & Prejudice is my all-time favorite movie. I have every version made.
31. I love reading Jane Austen.
32. I also like Charlotte Bronte.
33. I love, love, love pizza!
34. Chocolate is a must after supper!
35. My favorite color is pink. Any shade of it will do!
36. I love Glad!
37. I've never had a broken bone.
38. The only time I've ever had to stay overnight in the hospital has been during childbirth.
39. I'd love to learn to ballroom dance.
40. I'd love to lose 20 pounds so that I could ballroom dance :-o)
41. I used to bite my nails terribly when I was younger. I didn't stop biting them until about four years ago. (Gross, I know)
42. I'd like to think I'm pretty frugal. I love to price match at Walmart! LOL!
43. This year is the first time I've ever planted a garden.
44. I enjoyed it so much that I'll plan to plant one every year!
45. I'm a bit of a pack rat...mostly books and fabric.
46. I would love to travel more if our budget would allow it.
47. I have an under active thyroid (hypothyroidism).
48. I think my hubby is the coolest guy I know.
49. I have no idea how he tolerates me.
50. I'm so glad he does!
51. I sleep on my side.
52. I can't sleep with socks on. They drive me crazy!
53. I almost always have a blanket on me whenever I'm sitting around the house. It's a security issue, you know, like Linus Van Pelt.
54. I do not like to talk on the phone unless I absolutely have to. I much prefer email.
55. We only have cell phones in our house. We got sick of telemarketers years ago and haven't had a regular phone in about 6 years.
56. I shop at Walmart at least twice a week. I don't plan to but I live 10 minutes away so it's convenient.
57. I do not like to put up laundry after I fold it. It usually piles up until the basket overflows and then I put it away.
58. I really enjoy homeschooling the girls.
59. My favorite drink is Diet Sunkist.
60. I love, love, love Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough PopTarts.
61. I just finished reading Animal Farm by George Orwell and I loved it!
62. I'm a computer nut. I love to surf, get email, and blog!
63. I make a pretty mean meatloaf!
64. I hate to talk on the phone.(Did I say that already?!!! I really hate it)
65. My favorite beach thus far is Panama City Beach, FL.
66. I love to cook for people.
67. I vacuum the carpet everyday. I can't help myself.
68. Our neighbor across the street is not very nice. He yelled at our kids one time and Jeff went over to "handle" it. He had a shovel over his shoulder and it was just the funniest sight!
69. I love Sunday afternoon naps. I almost always take one!
70. I love the church we attend.
71. I love pictures....especially old ones of my mom or grandmother.
72. I love Japanese maples.
73. I just got a wide screen LCD monitor because my old CRT blew up. I love it!
74. Jenny at Up the Hill Gang is my RL friend and I just love her!
75. I'm a yes man. It is so hard for me to say no because I feel like I'm disappointing someone. It's a character flaw, I'm sure.
76. I love my hammock. It's handmade from Brazil and was given to me by some folks we used to go to church with. They were missionaries in Brazil for most of their lives and came back here to retire. They are wonderful, wonderful people.
77. I love online bill pay.
78. I write everything on my desk calendar. That's the only way I can remember it.
79. I don't care for shoes. I'd rather be bare foot anytime, any place.
80. I'm not crazy about driving.
81. I do all the painting around our house. Jeff doesn't like to paint and that's ok.
82. My two favorite board games right now are Scattergories and Fact or Crap.
83. I love bookstores, especially BAM, B&N, and Mr. K's.
84. I love Paper Back Swap! I can't tell you how many books I've received and sent out over the past six months! It's wonderful!
85. I enjoy going to thrift stores.
86. I have a terrible habit of eating sweet things late at night.
87. Lisa Whelchel called me once. She was doing some phone interviews for her book So You're Thinking About Homeschooling and she chose to interview me. I can't even remember how that happened. It was cool though since I was a die-hard Facts of Life fan growing up.
88. I do not find Adam Sandler funny at all. I don't think I've ever laughed at a movie he's made.
89. I do not like snakes. They terrify me.
90. Spiders are equally as terrifying.
91. I once found a black widow in our house. I covered it with a drinking glass and left it all day until Jeff got home!
92. I hate the smell of a nursing home. It always smells like death and that bothers me.
93. My grandfather was diagnosed with bladder cancer in early 2004..
94. He had surgery to remove his bladder in April of 2004.
95. It spread to his lungs and he died of lung cancer on June 19, 2005 (Father's Day).
96. He always called me Sony (pronounced like the company...So-nee)
97. I had two other nicknames growing up that I remember. Gravel Girty (I loved to play in the gravel and get dirty) and Neat (when I was clean).
98. I remember having a Strawberry Shortcake doll as a child. She was one of the scented ones and every time you washed her hair, she smelled like fresh strawberries.
99. I love sports (NFL and college football, college basketball (men and women), and tennis. Football is my all time favorite. Go Colts! Go Vols!
100. I love to sit on a porch when it is raining.

Have a great Friday!

Four Things Meme

I saw this over at Jenna's and thought it would be fun.

Four jobs I've held: (besides being a mom):

1. Medical records clerk
2. Cash office for a clothing store (accounting type work, which I loved)
3. Front end supervisor at an office supply store (Met my hubby through this company! He worked at an alternate location)
4. Fast food joints (worked in several after high school)

Four movies I could watch over and over again: This one will be easy for me!

1. Pride & Prejudice (this could count for three movies since I own three versions of the movie!)
2. Emma
3. Little Women
4. Sense & Sensibility
5. Facing the Giants

Four places I have lived: (I've only lived in two states)

1. Appalachia, VA
2. Kingsport, TN
3. Dryden, VA
4. where I am now in TN

Four tv shows I watch: (Don't watch alot of shows since I prefer movies or sports to "regular" tv)

1. LOST
2. Paula Deen
3. Rachel Ray 30 Minute Meals
4. ESPN, it has to count because I don't watch any other shows

Four places I've been on vacation:

1. Panama City Beach, FL
2. Lancaster, PA
3. New York City, NY
4. St. Augustine, FL

Four favorite foods:

1. Pizza, almost any kind will do. I could eat it 5 nights a week!
2. Soup beans (pintos) and cornbread
3. Potatoes, and I'll eat them anyway you can fix them!
4. Bread, any kind of bread will do! I love yeast rolls and sweet breads.

Four websites I visit:

1. MSNBC
2. Bank
3. Highlands Study Center
4. School Express (for homeschooling worksheets)

Tag, you're it! If you want to participate and haven't yet, please do and let me know you have so I can come learn more about you!

 

The Many Faces of Caroline

I had planned to do a Wordless Wednesday post but after further thought, I realized there was no way to do that with these photos.

Caroline is one of those kids that "marches to the beat of her own drum". That's not to say she's disobedient to her parents because she isn't. She just has her own idea of how things should be and that's how she works. Sometimes it's very entertaining, sometimes it's very exhausting! It's never dull :-o)

Anytime I pull our camera out, Caroline wants to take a picture. Since we've been making improvements to the house, I've been more than happy to let both girls take as many pictures as they want. I thought it would be a nice way to get a ton of photos of our projects so that we would have plenty to look at later on when we sat down to see how much we'd done. Let me chase a rabbit for a minute. The camera we are using now is fairly new. Jeff and I bought it before our New York trip back in December. We got it a few days before we were to leave and didn't have alot of time to "learn to use it" properly. I scanned the user manual but never really figured out how to change the settings, etc. I took time only to figure out how to switch it to night view so that we could take pictures at night. It does all kinds of neat tricks that I still haven't figured out. It does video and all that jazz. I've just not taken the time to learn about all the features it offers (I will soon though because I take terrible photos!). Imagine my surprise when, after a day of the girls having the camera, I go to download the photos and there are all of these avi files. I'm not even sure what avi stands for but I know it means those are video files. The kids apparently found the video button and experimented with making their own movies of various things (mostly kitties). Kids just amaze me!

Anyway, during the building of our deck and planting our garden, I remember Caroline asking me several times if she could take pictures. I agreed many of those times and just had to crack up at some of the things she photographed. This set is particularly funny to me. You have to understand that she was all alone when she took these. That makes it even funnier to me because I can just see her "striking these poses" when she knew no one was watching! She was supposed to be putting the camera up! I guess she just couldn't help herself!

Have a great Wednesday!